Petting Zoo Animals Put To Death

Tuberculosis Outbreak Forces Lethal Injections

November 06, 1993|By BRYAN SMITH Daily Press

NEWPORT NEWS — Time ran out Friday on the petting zoo animals.

Despite a flurry of 11th-hour appeals by zoo officials, at least four exotic animals and about 70 birds were killed after it could not be determined whether they had been exposed to bovine tuberculosis.

FOR THE RECORD - Published correction ran Tuesday, November 9, 1993.Articles in Saturday's Local section and on Sunday's front page incorrectly said some animals at the Peninsula SPCA petting zoo were euthanized Wednesday. The animals were killed on Thursday and Friday.

``We had hoped to gain a couple more weeks to see if there were some, some possibility of saving these animals,'' said Sarah Forbes, president of the Peninsula Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. ``But the state veterinarian was adamant.''

State officials insisted that most of the Peninsula petting zoo animals be killed after it was discovered that several had been infected with Mycobacterium bovis, a type of tuberculosis that is contagious among animals.

The petting zoo was closed Oct. 22 after officials discovered the tuberculosis outbreak. Experts have said they do not believe the outbreak threatens humans.

On Friday, state veterinarians administered lethal injections to the zoo's llama, three exotic antelopes and an assortment of peacocks, chickens, geese and turkeys, said Peninsula SPCA director Eugene Falls, who has supervised the zoo since it opened in 1973.

About 20 goats and sheep were killed Wednesday, he said.

The animals killed Friday had been granted a reprieve of sorts earlier in the week, when it was learned that the person who would administer the lethal injections would be on vacation next week.

But state officials decided Thursday evening they could not wait that long.

``They were here first thing'' Friday morning, said Falls, who bottlefed and cared for many of the animals when they were young. ``There was no way they were going to change their minds.''

Falls said he had hoped to persuade state veterinarian William Sims to spare the animals by allowing them to live under quarantine on a farm or by testing them to make sure they had not been infected.

But because there is no conclusive way - not skin tests, nor blood tests, nor X-rays - to tell whether an animal was infected, they all had to be killed, he said.

Officials had initially considered closing the zoo for good, but Forbes said it will likely reopen in about three months - after the premises have been cleaned and disinfected and new animals have been acquired.

``The public has spoken,'' she said. ``And they want their petting zoo.''